The Army plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) research center in January next year and turn it into the military’s next-generation combat control tower.
The Army plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) research center in January next year and turn it into the military’s next-generation combat control tower.
Members of the center will consist of a group of 20 to 30 military AI experts. They will focus on drawing AI-driven combat strategies to be in line with the rapid military paradigm shift, the Army said Thursday.
“We are going to build an AI Army with the launch of the center which will team up with other AI-related research bodies for full-fledged operations,” Army Chief of Staff Kim Yong-woo said in a speech on the sidelines of this year’s DX Korea, one of the nation’s largest defense exhibitions.
He called for the military to remain more agile in introducing tech-driven combat platforms — such as dronebots, which are expected to be widely used for surveillance purposes.
The Army also said it will join hands with the nation’s top AI organizations — such as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD).
The plan comes in line with the ongoing tech trend where AI is emerging as a key tech platform for the world’s leading IT giants, including Google and Samsung Electronics. This comes with the rise of big data, which allows machines with cognitive abilities to make human-like predictions.
The Army is pushing ahead with the drive under the goal of establishing combat forces driven by what it calls the transformative innovation enhanced by Fourth Industrial Revolution technology.
The drive is aimed at reinforcing the Army’s military readiness amid growing security uncertainty here and abroad. The Army believes AI and other emerging technologies will serve as a stepping stone for the military to increase its combat prowess and survival rates of soldiers.
A group of 350 military experts and opinion leaders from research and industry circles here and abroad participated in the exhibition’s international symposium where Kim delivered the opening address.
The symposium was held under the key theme, “Alternative combat platforms for the next-generation armed forces.”